After arriving in the city I would call home for the next 5 months, I needed only to find a roof to call exactly that.

The frustrating first few days were spent in front of my computer, going through Craigslist ads – and more ads!

I walked around Istiklal street to eat and stretch my legs. I would find myself yearning for those breaks, annoyed for having to actually keep looking – glued to my computer – and especially dreaming of what this incredible city has to offer. My curiosity kept getting bigger as those long, boring days insisted on feeling like an eternity.

At last I found a place. A cheap, well located, nice and pleasant place. A place I am starting to call home.

And with that I could (finally) start exploring.

Beautiful lights in the new mosque

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Just before I came I decided I needed to adjust my expectations. What if the city was nothing I expected? What if I hated Istanbul, or simply didn’t find it exciting at all? Afterall I had been dreaming and idealizing the place for years now..

Thankfully, I can joyfully say now, that while it is everything I expected, it also kind of isn’t.

On a city with around 14 million people I feel overwhelmed and stimulated, but often confused and crowded. The city is vibrant and pulsating with life. All the time.

I am finding the feeling of living in a true metropole an adjustment – but an intriguing one.

The possibilities are endless here. Istanbul has the power to either feel really comfortable and at home, or just as fast make you feel foreign and bewildered. Just like that.

The way that two worlds collide here is simply fascinating and the more you are here the more you feel it. I have been finding the culture shock as [strangely enough] an after thought – as the streets feel most of the time very european – simply with more (a lot more) people. The big differences lie in the details and so more than a shock it is mostly a surprise.

Lovely tea at the Spice Bazar in Istanbul

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Since I have arrived here in Istanbul something weird happened – I haven’t been really excited about taking photographs.